SME Podcast: Start-Up Stories
2nd August 2017 / All, Resources
Our favourite podcast for Small to Medium Enterprises.
According to research conducted by Edison Research in 2016, an estimated 98 million people listen to podcasts around the world, and that number is growing year on year. Can you blame them?
Podcasting is a great way to not only entertain your personal interests but it is increasingly valuable as a great tool for business to share tips and stories of success – and there are plenty of opportunities to listen and learn, and share your own story too.
Visit our list of favourite SME Podcasts and people and best podcasters behind them. We’ve also put a Twitter list of SME Podcasts together for you too – to help you keep up-to-date on business tips, news and stories on an ever-growing platform. Let us know if you have any favourites.
Start-Up Stories
Recently I have found a great podcast for SME news, stories and top tips: Start-Up Stories by the Financial Times. Each week Jonathan Moules talks to business founders about the joys and challenges of starting a business. Jane Ni Dhulchaointgh’s story from a few weeks ago (17th July) particularly caught my attention, showing us the true value of PR and Social Media for entrepreneurs.
Like many great businesses, Jane Ni Dhulchaointigh of Sugru started hers with a passion. Jane’s aim was to swap our throwaway culture for a fix-it society through the creation of Sugru – a flexible silicone material that can stick to anything permanently allowing you to fix, create and innovate. The idea began in the design studio, the product was developed in the labs but what brought the brand to global success was Jane’s use of social media in the early days of the business.
Jane always had high expectations for the material, but she was reminded by a friend that to make it big you have to start small. Jane used the growing platforms of YouTube and blogging in the late 00s to launch her brand online. One particular breakthrough for the company was their video review on the Telegraph’s website and ever since her orders have exploded – illustrating the power of great PR especially when used in a new media context.
The buzz around the product caught the attention of DIY supergiant B&Q with Jane turning to social media to make sure people ‘got their ass’s down to B&Q’ to buy Sugru. Jane did not know that her YouTube publicity stunt of parading a donkey around the local B&Q car park would grab the attention of a B&Q board member and a large consumer audience for its innovative use of social media, but it certainly did.
Jane admits that Sugru has a lot to thank social media platforms for in its early days, it was a cheap and efficient way of getting the word out about their brilliant product. Although social media has changed since the late 00s and little comes for free anymore, her inspiring story shows how you can use PR and social media to create a little community in order catch the attention of a bigger audience.
